"Between the two slices of bread in the sandwich of hypocrisy, there is often more than one sandwich, making it difficult to eat in the dark. However, there is always a flashlight in the Thermos!" - R Hunter

holy crap what a show! but the set list is incorrect- I remember some naked guy getting roped in by the park staff on the center bridge during "little Red Rooster".
After the show I was too busy getting my brother from the hospital....first some naked gal came through the crowd, then my brother screaming "NO!" ove rand over... seems he thought everybody were demons... (and he told me to be careful what I took... LOL)

This being in my backyard was insane. What a night. They were on it. the weather was nuts, Everyone has the same highlights. Scarlet/ Fire , the lightning during the Wheel and the monster Dew. It was one of those shows you had to have been there to believe it. Double encore too which became a staple for all Dead shows at SPAC to follow. Saratoga was always a special place to see music but the Dead made it really special. Also they broke an attendance record that night previously held by the Who since 1971. In the rain no less!

Grateful Dead, Guitar, Mamajuana (Rum and Red Wine discovered in the Dominican Republic this past January),Hacky Sack,Parties and Women. Any "High Nooners" from the old URI days still out there? Lupos Heatbreak Hotel (The Original One)? Gypsy Blue?

Man, what a show it was! It was the day I "got on the bus". 2 hippies got naked and took a bath in the stream in the state park next to the SPAC grounds. What a trip! I just knew that you could be anything you wanted and you would just fit in.

after 3 hits of purple I thought the Dead were not only doing a great light show, but, were controlling the weather too..remember, it was hot, nasty drizzlin durin hot nasty songs...then scarlett/fire brought a cool breeze and the rain would stop for the song........it couldnt have been just me.i swear the Dead were doing the weather too.....

Saratoga WAS special.I was just inside the arena, barely out of the rain when the show started. I knew it was on when the band ripped through the Jack Straw/Bertha opener. I was thinking what with the drums and bass chugging through these songs, and the lights and the crowd, it was like being at a bizarre train station with the locamotive rolling in. And I"m not kidding,at that point, I saw what looked like an old man with a coat and hat and briefcase walk by. My friend and I looked at each other, shrugged and just kept dancing. By the way, the Red Rooster and the "cream puff war", the marshmellow fight, was in "85". Another crazy night at SPAC

I agree that the Dead controlled the weather at this show!Best, most intense show I ever attended!! Just two months before this event I was a 20 year old art student who had chewed up the streets and club life of NYC for 5 years, but had never left the city...until the Dead came and saved my a**, and took me to the promised land. Now I was back on the East Coast for what promised to be (and was) a very special tour. I spent the 17th (my 21st birthday) working the parking lot. Never had a better birthday in my life! Being a hippy in the late 1970's I didn't quite fit in with the Metal/Punk scene in a way that satisfied my soul, but now I felt I had come in to my own, and that I was home, socially, and what fun I had, chatting up scores of people...what a show...great first set, classic beyond classic 2nd set...really, really hot, smokin' , as befits the title, Scarlet Fire, then coolin' us down, and I too swear the Dead controlled the weather, because AFTER the Dew started, a beautifully refreshing and cooling mist settled upon us as we danced, rejuvenating all us excessively overheated dancers for the remainder of the show. I believe all who experienced this felt that the band had definitely influenced the weather, and you have to remember the band was playing under a large covered area, and had no direct experience of the sublte changes of weather that were going on. After the show was very magical, too, in that people ran around for hours after the show on the beautiful grounds like small children in a magical fairyland. People frolicked in the small stream that ran through there, and I constantly heard snatches of conversation that went along the lines of how beautiful, incredible, magical and fulfilling the whole experience had been. For me this show was the absolute highpoint of my personal Dead experience, and I'm not surprised people there still talk of it, because it was a seminal moment for many of us that were there: we experienced the breathtaking beauty that we felt we were all capable of, but were lacking the appropriate venue to express it in. This first Saratoga Springs show fit that bill to perfection, and we were all blessed by it in life changing ways! Thanks, boys!!!!

hey now people it is so good to hear y'all talkin about that show! It was my first dead show (tho i grew up in San Fran) and I was double-dosed on cid and shroom. If one of those naked gals was seen making love to the mudhill, that was me (my belated apologies to whoever's white merc I decorated outside the stage door--probably Jerry's!--but that thing was just too white and shiny with the dew...I had to love it with mud, ya know?)...I'm telling you, ya ain't lived til you've tried on a pillowcase dress...Of course it was a life-defining night for me, but I never knew others felt it too. Saratoga is a magical place, I think...I do remember little red rooster, tho. And an AWESOME Bird Song! God I love those guys!!

I remember spending the majority of time before the first set sitting against a big tree in that huge area behind the pavilion that was like a park. I was way too high to move.
I just needed the music to occupy my mind and make things alright. It was VERY surreal.
There were many shows where the band coming onstage was my rescue.
It was my 6th show. When the music started I was washed with this feeling of complete euphoria. It was so intense and so beautiful, I think I was in tears for part of it.
This first set still seems like a waking dream for me.
I was able to reconnect with my travel buddies during the break long enough to recap what had just transpired.
As the second set started I broke off into the void once again
and was blessed with one of the best second sets I ever saw at Saratoga.
I was in my early twenties. It was summer. I feel so fortunate to have been able to experience so much joy.
The happiness continues....
Love music and love life !!

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